


Make You Sweat (England x Reader)

by katemoon



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Clothing, Clothing Kink, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Punk, Punk Rock, Queen - Freeform, Rock Stars, Rock and Roll, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sexual Tension, Song: We Will Rock You, Sweat, Teasing, Temptation, Tsunderes, vintage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23808886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katemoon/pseuds/katemoon
Summary: Okay, I'll admit it. I wrote this short entirely because I got an AMAZING new pair of vintage pants with suspenders for my birthday. Then this happened.After the reader shows up to a world meeting dressed in an outfit that gets Arthur Kirkland's heart pounding, Alfred and Francis scheme to get them together.
Relationships: America & England (Hetalia), America & France (Hetalia), America (Hetalia) & Reader, America (Hetalia)/Reader, England (Hetalia)/Reader
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. She Wears the Pants

Tugging down the front of her vest, ___________ smoothed out the fabric of her trousers and smirked with some satisfaction at herself in the mirror. It was absolutely perfect. Of all the things she had done to set Arthur off of late, this was undoubtedly the most diabolical. Doing a final twirl for herself, she grabbed her keys and headed for the consulate. She took a cab for a change, knowing that he would expect her to get there on foot, and therefore wouldn't notice her arrival. She really didn't have a problem with Arthur, apart from his habit of arguing with every single thing she ever brought up in the meetings. But it gave her some satisfaction to best him every now and again in games she knew he couldn't win at. This, undoubtedly, would be her best win yet. After having a few drinks at the Halloween party several weeks ago, he had let it slip that he found 1940s business attire on women to be wildly attractive. After picking his drunken brain for a few more particulars, she had decided to dress in exactly that style today just to distract him and throw him off his game for the meeting. Maybe today some resolutions might actually be reached for a change.  
  
___________ wanted to be sure to get there after he had already gone into the conference room with everybody else. She made her way stealthily up the stairs and hid around the corner, listening for voices. She recognized Alfred's obnoxiously loud voice almost immediately, which meant Arthur definitely had to already be there. She cautiously peeked out from around the corner just in time to see Francis making his way into the conference room. A few others lingered in the hallway still, but she didn't want to disrupt the meeting. Her arrival would be solely meant for Arthur's benefit.  
  
Throwing back her shoulders, she strolled casually around the corner with a knowing smile and waltzed right through the main doors. She did her very best to look aloof, but internally she was scouring every corner of the room for Arthur's unruly blond head and dark green uniform. He was still drawing the portraits on the chalkboard and hadn't seen her yet.  
  
"DUDE!" Alfred loudly made __________'s presence known to all as he rushed up to her, "_________! What the heck are you wearing? You look amazing!" He proceeded to circle her and scrutinize her outfit. Truth be told, there wasn't anything particularly special about the outfit. It was just a pair of slacks and a matching vest, after all. But the fact that __________ was wearing business formal attire was unusual for her. She normally wore jeans and a nice shirt to these meetings, but after trying on the suit, she was considering never looking back. She had to admit, the pants looked _good_ on her.   
  
Over Alfred's shoulder, she saw what she had been waiting to see all morning. Arthur's eyes were the size of teacup saucers and his mouth hung open. A blush grew from the apples of his cheeks all the way to his hairline and the chalk he had been holding dropped to the floor.  
  
_That's right_ , she thought smugly at him, _I'm wearing houndstooth, you lucky boy._  
  
It was at that exact moment that Francis popped up out of nowhere and grabbed _________'s hand, twirling her around to get a view of her at every angle. " _Mon Dieu!_ You are stunning, _mon cher!_ " He pulled her in close and tilted her chin up to meet his dazzlingly blue eyes, "I 'ope you didn't do zis just for me?"  
  
When a whiskered cheek brushed her own, Alfred stepped in to pull the Frenchman off of her. "Come on, dude, don't be creepy! Just because __________ showed up looking insanely hot today doesn't mean you get to grope her!"  
  
___________ smiled wickedly at Arthur, winking at him, and then said to Francis, "Come on! Can't a girl try something new, Francis?" Then she took her usual seat at the table. But rather than get settled in, she swung her feet up onto the table, crossing one leg over the other to reveal the oxford shoes and argyle socks she was also wearing.  
  
When she crossed her arms and tilted her head to get a look at the Brit, it was all she could do to keep from laughing. He was staring, red-faced, at her legs and shoes, looking ready to explode.  
  
Arthur didn't say a word to her, so she decided to tease him a little. "Good morning, Arthur," she smiled coyly, crossing her legs the other way to try and draw his gaze. "You look a little flushed today. 'You okay?"  
  
Arthur coughed and cleared his throat, not looking at her, "'Fine, thanks."  
  
That was when Ludwig decided to make his entrance and call the meeting to order. ___________ immediately removed her feet from the table and assumed perfect posture and a cherubic countenance. Ludwig spared her only a glance and a huff before proceeding.  
  
Throughout the meeting, __________ watched Arthur out of the corner of her eye. He was doing his very best not to look at her, but every now and again, she caught him stealing glances at her. Alfred nudged her and passed his notebook over to her, where he had written, _Dude, what's going on with Arthur? Is he sick or something?_  
  
__________ bit her tongue to keep from laughing. Arthur had been uncharacteristically quiet for the entirety of the meeting. She took Alfred's pen and quickly scribbled, _I did everyone a favor today. I'm keeping him distracted so we can actually get through the meeting in a timely manner for once._  
  
Alfred had to cough loudly to cover his laughter.  
  
_Dude, no way! You mean you dressed up like that to get him to shut up?? Is he turned on by that getup?_  
  
________ smirked, _I don't know. Take a look at his face and tell me what you think_  
  
_Dude, I freakin' love you. Remind me to buy you a drink after this!!!_  
  
For the rest of the meeting, Alfred watched Arthur carefully. He'd noticed that Arthur often watched ___________ during meetings, but he'd always assumed it was because they were always arguing and he wanted to be prepared to pounce if she spoke. Come to think of it, they argued almost as much as Arthur and Francis did...  
  
Alfred flipped to a clean page of his notebook and wrote, _Do you think Arthur likes ________?_ and then pushed it in front of Francis on his other side.  
  
Francis chuckled under his breath and murmured, "You only just now figured zat out?"  
  
_Dude! I thought he hated her!_  
  
Francis grumbled and snorted and then wrote, _Alfred, there is a thing called 'sexual tension.' Perhaps you've heard of it? It would do the entire world a favor if we locked them in a closet together for a few hours.  
  
Wait, so you're saying ________ likes Arthur too?? Seriously?? DUDE! We HAVE to set them up!  
  
_Francis sighed, irritated by the American's enthusiasm, _How?  
_  
_Well, what would you do to get a girl to fall for you?  
  
Normally I rely on my natural beauty and charm. Sometimes I send flowers and serenade the woman from the street below her window if she is a challenge.  
  
Huh...somehow, I don't think that'd work on _________. She's kinda..._ Alfred looked up, but Francis nodded knowingly. ___________ was in a class all her own. The thought of getting Arthur to serenade her almost made Alfred laugh when he suddenly remembered something from the one time he'd ever been to ___________'s house. A rather impressive collection of Queen vinyl and CDs on one of her bookshelves, as well as a couple of posters of iconic British rock stars on the wall behind the shelf.  
  
Barely able to contain his enthusiasm, he wrote _I totally know what we can do!! Grab Arthur after the meeting and hold him here, no matter what.  
  
_Francis made a face, "Why?"  
  
Alfred whispered, "I'm getting the band back together!"


	2. Wingman

After the meeting was over, Francis distracted Arthur while Alfred snagged ____________. "Hey! Let's get that drink I promised you, huh?"  
  
_________ paused, "Oh, I don't know if I'll have time tonight, Al."  
  
"Trust me," he shook her shoulders, "There's this bar down the road called _Mercury's_ that has a Queen tribute band playing tonight. We HAVE to go!"  
  
At the mention of Queen, ___________'s eyes lit up, "Did you say _Queen_?!" She smiled widely, "In that case, screw whatever I was going to get done tonight. This takes priority! Where are they playing and when?"  
  
Alfred wrote down the address and time and then waved her off, "I'll see you tonight! Don't be late!"  
  
When she was safely out of sight and earshot, he darted over to where Francis was, quite literally, holding Arthur hostage.  
  
"I said bugger off, frog! Turn me loose at once!"  
  
Francis was holding Arthur from behind, and the struggle had started to become more intense.  
  
"Hey, Francis, thanks for holding him for me. I'll take it from here."  
  
" _Honhonhon!_ Just let me know if zere is anysing else I can 'elp with." Francis winked and blew a kiss to them as he sauntered out of the room.  
  
Alfred threw his arm around Arthur's shoulders, "DUDE!!! I had NO IDEA you liked ________! Why didn't you tell me, bro?!"  
  
Arthur went from furious to flustered in a blink, "W-What are you talking about? I don't like her! Sh-she's a bloody pain in the neck!"  
  
"Come on, bro, it's totally obvious! And that's why I'm going to help you tonight."  
  
"I really don't know what you're going on about. Get out of my way. I'm leaving!"  
  
Alfred grabbed Arthur in a headlock, "Listen up, Arthur! I already invited _____________ out for a drink tonight, so you'd better do as I say."  
  
"You what??" Arthur was suddenly livid, "She's too good for the likes of you! I can't believe she said yes! Why would she go out with a ponce like you?" Arthur caught himself and promptly snapped his mouth shut, realizing he'd said too much.  
  
"Don't _worry_ ," Alfred released Arthur, who rubbed his neck and glared at the American. "She only agreed to it because I told her a Queen tribute band would be playing there tonight."  
  
"What's that got to do with me?" Arthur glared at Alfred suspiciously.  
  
"Dude, remember that punk phase you went through a few years back?"  
  
"Of course I remember. I'm starting to think you're never going to let me forget it."  
  
"Do you still have that jacket and the pants?"  
  
"Why does that matter? What are you—" Arthur suddenly realized where Alfred was going with this and almost shouted, "I'm not pretending to be in a tribute band to sing for her! Are you out of your bloody mind?! She'll just take pictures and laugh!"  
  
"Dude, _trust_ me on this. She dressed up like that today to make you sweat, didn't she? She seemed to know it would."  
  
Arthur ground his teeth, "That's none of your bloody business you presumptuous wanker!"  
  
Alfred continued, "My point is, TWO can play at that game!"  
  
"What are you saying?" Arthur paused briefly, slightly intrigued.  
  
"Look, just believe me when I say that __________ has a thing for rock stars. Now hurry up and go get changed! I'm going to call some friends of mine and we'll meet them at _Mercury's_ bar in an hour to practice."  
  
"Practice _what?_ I haven't agreed to anything!"  
  
"Too late, my man!" Alfred grabbed Arthur's arm in a vice grip and all but dragged him out of the room.  
  


_**************_

Three hours later, ___________ wandered into _Mercury's_ , where Alfred had said he would meet her. Since she'd had to run errands before going to the bar, she hadn't had time to change. Normally, she would have liked to trade her houndstooth for her leather jacket and combat boots, but it couldn't be helped.  
  
She stood looking around for Alfred but didn't see him until he was on top of her bear-hugging her almost to the point of making her pass out.  
  
"Dude!! This is going to be awesomely amazing! Are you ready? I think they're about to start."  
  
"Uhum, YES!" _________ bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.  
  
"Come on! I got us a seat down in front, so we'll get the best view."  
  
After dragging __________ down to the table front and center of the stage, Alfred said, "Hey, I'll be right back. Gotta hit the men's room!"  
  
_________ tried to tell him he was going to miss the opening song if he left now, but he was already gone, and the words died on her lips. Oh well. She could hardly wait for the music to start.


	3. Hot Patootie, Bless My Soul

Alfred burst through the backstage door and shouted excitedly, "She's here!!" He grabbed Arthur by the lapels of his leather jacket and shook him. "Are you ready for this, bro?! She's at the table closest to the stage in the middle. Let's go knock her dead!"

  
The Brit was looking uncommonly punk compared to his usual army getup. He'd found a pair of tight black jeans with a belt and chain somewhere in the back of his wardrobe and a white wifebeater that exposed his midriff when he raised his arms up. The black leather jacket added to the look, and he may or may not have gotten a little carried away by adding black combat boots and a spiked choker into the mix. He'd pulled his electric guitar out of its case for the first time in years, and it now hung down on its strap over his shoulder. He just prayed that his fingers would hold up through at least one song, now that the callouses were so faded. He hoped to bloody hell that Alfred's stupid, absurd plan would actually work. _I couldn't care less whether or not __________ likes me. I just want to get even with her for that stunt she pulled this morning.  
  
_ Squaring his shoulders, he stood and stretched, shaking out his nerves and hopping up and down a couple of times before nodding to his last-minute bandmates. Alfred had called up the members of his old band from his high school days and they had, miraculously, agreed to drop everything to rehearse and play for open-mic that night. They had fortunately covered a couple of Queen songs in their day, so it hadn't taken long for all of them to fall into sync with one another.  
  
Arthur swaggered his way onto the stage just like he used to back in the days when he played in his own band, and a cheer went up from the crowd that had gathered. _Where did all of these people come from??_  
  
And there, sitting front and center, was __________. Arthur couldn't help the electric current that zapped up his spine all the way to the crown of his head. She was still wearing the houndstooth suit. Only now, she looked even more alluring, because she had removed the blazer and now he could see the vest and button-down shirt underneath. She was grinning widely as they came onto the stage, and he realized Alfred must have been right about her having a thing for rock stars. Rather than gulping nervously, Arthur's smile turned devious. __________'s eyes landed on him and she froze, her mouth dropping open in complete astonishment.  
  
 _That's right, love,_ he smirked triumphantly at her. S _uffer._  
  
Then, Arthur swung his guitar up into his hands and revved a couple of chords to prompt Alfred, who nodded and began to rattle off and keep time on the drums. They played the first few measures of the song, and then Arthur launched boldly into the vocals, drawing several screams and cheers from the crowd, " _Here we stand, and here we fall. History won't care at all..._ "  
  
Down in the audience, __________ was gaping as wide as a fish out of water. _Holy @#$%! Is that ARTHUR?!_ She sat thunderstruck, staring at the face of the lead singer whose backside she had just been ogling with so much vulgar appreciation. She couldn't tear her eyes away from him. The jeans and shirt he had on left little to the imagination. He wasn't broadly muscled like Alfred, but the leanly toned musculature he possessed was exactly the sort that got her heart racing. He ripped on the guitar, owned the mic, and strutted across the stage and straight into her heart. __________ was now getting a taste of her own medicine, and she had to admit that Arthur had _definitely_ won this round. Every time Arthur looked at her and gave her that dark smirk, it only served to turn her on even more.   
  
_Okay, I'll admit it. I've always secretly thought Arthur was kind of cute. But THIS...dear sweet mercy, I think I need a cigarette..._  
  
The band played two more songs, ending with _We Will Rock You_. Arthur probably enjoyed his guitar solo a little too much. Or maybe it was _________'s reaction to it that was really revving his engine.  
  
When they finished playing their set, __________ knew she had two options at this point. Either she could leave the bar now with at least a piece of her dignity still intact, or she was going to have to face Arthur and most likely completely lose her senses. She might have gotten up to leave, but her legs couldn't seem to work. The next thing she knew, Arthur had sauntered off the stage and taken a set at her table. He smirked at her. "_________! Fancy seeing you here. Did you enjoy the music?"  
  
"Uh... uhmm..." __________ felt certain she was the color of a ripe tomato by now, but she couldn't stop staring at him. Arthur was too damned sexy right now. She was having trouble forming a single coherent thought in his presence.  
  
"'You alright, love?" Arthur leaned closer to her, playing the part of the cool bad boy a little too well. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to make young women swoon like this. But it wasn't just making any girl swoon that had him so intoxicated at the moment. It was the fact that for once, he'd beaten ____________. The power was euphoric.  
  
"Uhm... yes... you look amazing. And the music! It was great! And the band! You guys were all great!" ____________ floundered.  
  
Arthur chuckled darkly. "What's the matter, love? Am I making you nervous?"  
  
 _Oh, don't talk to me like that! I'm losing my mind over here!_ "N-not at all! I've just—never seen your—well, I never would have guessed you had a side like _this_." She gestured to his clothes.  
  
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Would you like me to go change?"  
  
"NO!" her voice came out much more forcefully than she had intended, and it made Arthur chuckle again.  
  
"To be fair, I never would have guessed the same of you." He gestured to her own clothes.  
  
"Oh, well, I only wore this to make you—" She stopped and blushed even harder. "But, it looks like you've outdone me." She laughed nervously, all the while trying to maintain eye contact and not let her gaze wander.  
  
"What did you want to make me do, exactly?" he leaned in even closer as though to hear her response.  
  
Somewhere across the room, a distinctive voice shouted out, "Kiss!"  
  
Several other voices joined in, "Whoo!"  
  
Arthur glanced up immediately and scowled, muttering, "Bloody wankers..."  
  
____________ sat back abruptly, realizing she had been leaning toward Arthur as well. Glancing around at the crowd of people, her heart still pumping wildly, she asked hurriedly, "Can we go somewhere private and talk?"  
  
All of the smugness left Arthur's face. "What for?"  
  
____________ nodded toward Alfred and the suddenly-present Bad Touch Trio to make her point. "Not that I would _want_ to be alone with you, of course. But Alfred's on one tonight, and with the others here, there's only so much idiocy I can take."  
  
"Right. Sure. We can use the backstage area. The others have likely cleared out by now." Arthur looked nervous as he got to his feet and showed her the way. He held the door open for her to the backstage area and then stepped through and closed it behind himself. He turned to face her, but his mind went blank again. He had no idea what to say. The houndstooth was still _really_ working for him, and it accentuated her figure in ways that none of her normal clothes ever did.  
  
____________'s breathing was slightly shaky as she watched him cautiously, also at a loss for what to say. Then, without warning, Arthur launched himself at her. He was dumbfounded when ____________ met him halfway. And then they were kissing. A lot. ____________ gripped the material of Arthur's shirt, her fingers relaxing slightly to explore the shape of his middle. Arthur grasped her by her suspenders and pulled her hard against himself as he had been wanting to do all day since she had first walked in that morning. Stumbling, he pressed her against the wall, going after her neck and being rewarded with the soft moan that escaped her.  
  
Behind them, the backstage door crashed open. "DUDES!!!" The interjection was immediately followed by a camera flash and several catcalls and whistles.  
  
Arthur and ____________ sprang apart, startled by the untimely interruption. Alfred stood on the threshold grinning from ear to ear, backed by Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert.   
  
"Not that I don't support you guys, but I know you both well enough to know that this has to progress 'appropriately' as you would call it." Alfred held up two shopping bags. "But now that you've finally broken the ice, both of you change into these and go out to dinner somewhere. You've got a lot of talk about." Alfred winked at them, while the others laughed and made kissy sounds.  
  
"You guys!" __________ couldn't believe the gall they had. _Way to ruin the moment, jerks.  
  
_ "What gives you the right to tell us what to do?!" Arthur's voice shot up an octave. "We were in the middle of something here!"  
  
The BTT howled with laughter and Gilbert snapped a couple more pictures before Alfred shoved them back. "Come on, guys! Get out of here!" Then he looked at _________ and Arthur meaningfully. "Look, the point is, neither one of you is going to be thinking clearly while you're both dressed like that. So hurry up and change and then you can go off by yourselves."  
  
___________ marched up to Alfred and snatched the bag he held out to her. "Leave it to you to stir up trouble," she hissed.  
  
Arthur did the same. "You and I will have words later," he promised. " _Harsh_ words." To the other three men still standing just outside of the doorway, he suddenly flew through the door and gave chase when Gilbert waved his phone screen at him to show off the picture he had taken seconds before Arthur and ___________ had jumped apart. "Give me that, you albino pervert!"  
  
___________ sighed and excused herself to go and change in the bathroom. If the BTT was going to keep this up, she might as well go home. Arthur certainly wasn't going to let up anytime soon. She opened the bag in the bathroom to see what Al had given her to change into. _That butthole..._ Al had picked up a dress for her. A little black dress, to be precise. ___________ sighed and rolled her eyes. _Very subtle, Al,_ she thought sarcastically. But when she held it up, she had to admit, he had good taste. After fixing her hair and checking to make sure everything was in order, ____________ stepped out of the bathroom. Al was there with Arthur, who had been provided with a suit and tie, sans coat. This was _also_ a side of him she'd not seen before. True, it wasn't sexy in the same way as a rock star, but there was a more subtle attractiveness to it.  
  
Alfred was quick to exclaim, "DANG! You look smokin' hot, __________! I knew that dress would look good on you!"  
  
A thought occurred to her suddenly, and she said, "Thanks. How did you know my size, anyway?" Alfred was good-hearted, to be sure, but he wasn't exactly bright.  
  
"Oh, Francis told me."  
  
__________ blinked, clenching her fists in indignation. "How does _Francis_ know my size?!"  
  
Alfred waved the thought away. "Not important. What _is_ important is that the hero makes sure you two leave here together!"  
  
Grabbing Arthur and __________ both by the arm, Alfred dragged them out of _Mercury's_ and hailed a cab. When a cab pulled up the curb, he promptly shoved them both into the back seat and animatedly told the driver to take them to a quiet restaurant in the vicinity while shoving a wad of cash into the cabbie's hand.  
  
When he was finished, he said to __________ and Arthur, "Okay, dudes! No going home until you talk everything out, got it?" He winked at them, and Arthur and __________ both gave him a flat look, equally annoyed.


	4. More Than Clothes

As the cab pulled away, the two stared out their windows, not speaking. The tension was still there, but neither was willing to break the silence just yet. ___________ fidgeted and glanced at Arthur out of the corner of her eye. He had his arms folded and was drumming his fingertips irritably on his sleeve. When the driver dropped them off at the restaurant, they stood on the curb for a while after the cab drove away. After nearly a full minute of awkward silence, Arthur finally said, "I suppose I should have just had that cabbie drive us both home. I didn't think about it at the time."  
  
"Well hang on!" __________ turned to Arthur to find him staring at the ground, looking a little flushed. "We did just kind of have a moment back there! I could hardly go home now without at least talking about what happened first!"  
  
Arthur's eyes widened, and she could see the panic in them when he looked up at her. He stuttered a couple of times before finally blurting out, "W-What do you want me to say?!"  
  
"Anything!" The color in ____________'s face was rising, but she wasn't about to back down. "You know, something like, 'I'm attracted to you' or 'I'm interested in you.' Something like that, only... more...?"  
  
Arthur took a step back, his mouth twitching. "It's not my fault you dressed up in that suit today! Y-You _know_ I have a particular predilection for that look!" After what had happened, even arguing with her was confusing. It used to come so easily. They fought and argued at every single conference, and every time she only ever pissed him off. But now, he was finding her attractive, even when she was angry.  
  
__________ grabbed him by the lapel of his shirt. "Quit trying to twist this around! I'm trying to have a serious conversation with you here!"  
  
"And I'm trying to subtly avoid it!" He tried to push her away, but she held him firmly in place.  
  
"Well, you're not going to get out of it, so quit whining and at least answer me this: Was it just the clothes, or are you actually attracted to me?" she shook him a little to emphasize her words.  
  
Arthur had become more irritated than embarrassed as ___________ continued to push him. He grasped the hand that was clenched around his shirt. "Of course it wasn't just the clothes, who do you take me for?! And unless you're planning to rip off my shirt, let go!"  
  
____________ released him abruptly, her head a little fuzzy from his words. Stumbling backward a couple of steps, Arthur realized what he'd just said as well, and he tried to turn the tables. "And what about you? I was under the impression that your sole purpose in life was to argue me into the ground at meetings."  
  
"That's what _you_ do! You never let me have my say!"  
  
"That's not true!"  
  
"Is too!"  
  
"Now who's avoiding the question?" Arthur straightened up and stabbed a finger at her. "Am I only good enough for you as a rockstar, then?"  
  
"Good enough for me?" ___________ made a face at him for his choice of words.  
  
"You know what I meant!" Arthur backpedaled to correct himself, "Was it just the clothes?"  
  
___________ paused, already knowing the answer but being surprised by it all the same. Even before tonight's little show, she realized she had always kind of sort of... _liked_ Arthur. He drove her absolutely nuts, and he was so hot-headed and so easily riled up... but he had always been easy to talk to outside of work where they weren't arguing politics and economics.  
  
Arthur blinked and lowered his hand when she didn't speak right away. There was a new expression on her face that he'd never seen before, and something about it made his heart pound in a way that was very different from earlier. Shyness.  
  
"I think..." she played with the straps of her shopping bag and then her brow furrowed slightly as she muttered under her breath, "Well _you_ certainly won't admit anything first." She looked at the ground and said more loudly, "It wasn't just the clothes for me, either." She looked up and cautiously offered, "I think... I think I might like you, Arthur."  
  
Arthur started to sweat. _Bollocks! I've always secretly sort of cared for her... possibly more than I'd like to admit. But what do I say now?!_  
  
He stared at her so long while wracking his brain that __________'s temper flared, and she stabbed a finger at him and spat, "You had better like me, too, if you wanted me that badly earlier!"  
  
Arthur held up his hands and instinctively blurted out, "I do! I do! I always have! Uh—" He wished an anvil would drop on his head then and kill him.  
  
__________ faltered in her angry crusade. "Uh... you have? Really?"  
  
"Uh—I—Well—I mean—of course! I mean, as a colleague and a person and—and—" After vainly searching for a way to retrieve his dignity, Arthur cursed and threw his shopping bag to the ground. "Oh, _sod_ this!" He closed the gap between them, took ___________'s face in his hands, and kissed her.  
  
___________'s eyes grew wide in surprise, but after a few moments, her own shopping bag slipped from her fingers and she closed her eyes, melting into him. The whir of traffic and crowds and sounds of the city all faded into the background. He pulled away softly, gazing down into her eyes, which were dreamy and lost in a smile.  
  
Very quietly, Arthur said, "__________, would you like to have dinner with me?"  
  
In response, __________ pulled his face back to hers and kissed him again, smiling into his lips. She felt the response of his own smile when he took her in his arms and returned the kiss. Arthur had a feeling he was going to like going to the meetings from now on.


	5. Epilogue

_Three weeks later..._  
  
"For the last time, would you kindly cram an English muffin in it and let me finish what I was going to say?!"  
  
"I would, if I thought it was worth any of our time!"  
  
"You're just arguing with me for the sake of arguing, as _usual_!"  
  
"No, I'm trying to spare everyone here the unnecessary waste of time this proposal would be."  
  
________'s eyes flashed, and everyone sank a little lower in their chairs. Ludwig's eyebrow twitched. Feliciano cowered in his seat. Alfred sighed exasperatedly and lowered his chin onto his arms crossed on the table. Francis chortled bemusedly to himself.  
  
"You're being unreasonable!" _______ got to her feet.  
  
Arthur also stood up, prepared to defend his position to the bitter end. "No, I'm not. I'm the epitome of reason."  
  
________ shrugged off her jacket and folded her arms, clenching her fists and practically baring her teeth. "You are the most insufferable, pig-headed, old-fashioned, self-important prick I've ever had the displeasure of being forced to stand having in my presence!"  
  
Arthur loosened his tie, biting his lip a little and smirking. "Better that than an empty-headed, careless, underdeveloped trollop like yourself, love. The sight of you makes me positively ill..."  
  
Alfred kicked Francis' foot. "Hey. I thought things went well the other night, didn't you? I thought we could get them together and finally put an end to all of this." He pouted at his own apparent failure. "But it looks like we've just made things worse."  
  
Francis _honhonhon_ ed and sat back in his chair. "Is zat _really_ what you see, American boy?"  
  
"Huh?" Alfred sat up. "What do you mean?"  
  
"Zey're just trying to save face so zey can get out of ze meeting and have some alone time."  
  
Alfred's eyes widened, and when he looked back at the bickering pair, he realized that Francis was absolutely right. Tensions were high, but this was a different kind of tension altogether.  
  
"That's it!" ________ straightened and pointed to the door. "We're settling this outside. RIGHT NOW!"  
  
"Fine by me!" Arthur also shrugged out of his coat and draped it over his chair before quickly following _________ outside. He turned and slammed the doors to the conference room shut behind them. The last everyone heard was the two bickering and arguing down the hall until another door opened and closed and silence descended.  
  
Ludwig cleared his throat. "It's about time zey got on vith it. I sought zey'd never leave."  
  
"I sink zey overdid it a little today," Francis helpfully supplied, grinning proudly.  
  
"What are you talking about, dude?" Alfred was completely lost.  
  
Francis rolled his eyes. "To put it simply, avoid ze vacant conference room at ze end of ze hall until zey come back. Feliciano can tell you all about _zat_." He winked at the little Italian, who laughed delightedly. "Why? I thought it was romantic!"  
  
"Wait a minute, dude. Are you telling me that every time they've gone out to finish their arguments these past few weeks they've _actually_ been—"  
  
"Can ve _PLEASE_ continue vis our business?" Ludwig had no desire to spell out and translate _______ and Arthur's obvious and shameless schemes to get out of meetings to the non-too-observant American.  
  
Alfred jumped up from his seat and booked it out of the conference room and down the hall. Not that he wanted to interrupt anything, but he simply couldn't resist seeing for himself if they really were down in the other conference room as Francis had suggested. Pressing his ear to the door, he didn't hear anything at first. Then, he heard a quiet _clink_ and Arthur's voice.  
  
_That doesn't sound like anything important._  
  
Grasping the door handle, Alfred took a chance and threw the door open, loudly announcing, "Britain! What are you doing?"  
  
Arthur and ________ both froze open-mouthed, staring up at Alfred. The corner of Alfred's mouth twitched at the unexpectedness of what he saw. A blanket and a pair of seat cushions had been laid out on the floor, along with a picnic basket and a full tea set. Arthur and _________ both had teacups raised halfway to their lips, apparently having just finished toasting to something.  
  
Making a small sound of surprise, Alfred finally blurted, "Are you serious? _This_ is what you two have been skipping out of meetings for all this time?!"  
  
Arthur got to his feet. "What do you care what we do?! Get out!" He promptly shoved the American back out the door and slammed it shut behind him. Inside, Alfred could hear Arthur's irritated voice followed by _________'s delighted laughter.  
  
Returning to the meeting, Alfred plopped back into his chair, glancing at Francis, and then declaring, "Dude, those guys are lame!"  
  
"As I vas saying," Ludwig raised his voice in irritation, determined to get back to business. Alfred slumped a little lower in his seat and finally shut up. However, disruptions aside, the big German was actually secretly very pleased that Arthur and _________ had _finally_ gotten together, and he had no intention of throwing a wrench in the new development. With both Arthur _and_ ________ gone during the meetings, they got through everything in record time and with maximum efficiency. For Ludwig and the rest of the committee members, _that_ was a match made in heaven.


End file.
